Why it matters
The producer
For more than four decades, the Pérez Cuevas family farmed vineyards in eastern Rioja and handed their harvest to bulk buyers. Gabriel Pérez Cuevas ended that arrangement in the early 1980s when he founded Bodegas Ontañón in 1984, built a winery near the village of Quel in Rioja Oriental, and began bottling under the family name. The family had land, elevation, and old vines; what they built from those assets is now one of the largest family-owned estates in Spain, with 250 hectares of vineyards in the Rioja Oriental facility and a portfolio that extends to more than 300 hectares across three Spanish wine regions.
The current generation carries that arc further. In 2025, Raquel Pérez Cuevas, who leads the winery alongside siblings Rubén and María, was elected the first female president of DOCa Rioja, the appellation's governing body. DOCa (Denominación de Origen Calificada) is the highest regulatory tier in Spanish wine law. A family that sold bulk grapes a generation ago now sets the rules for the entire appellation.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Rioja Oriental is the easternmost of the three sub-zones of DOCa Rioja, running along the Ebro and its tributaries toward the Navarra border. The climate here is warmer and more Mediterranean than in Rioja Alta to the west, which produces fuller, richer fruit from Tempranillo but risks losing the natural acidity needed for Rioja's ageing capacity. Ontañón's response to that warmth is elevation: the estate farms parcels between 600 and 800 metres above sea level, where longer ripening seasons slow sugar accumulation and preserve the acid that holds a wine together in the glass and in the cellar.
Quel, the village at the centre of the estate, sits in the southern part of Rioja Oriental. The appellations on Ontañón's labels follow DOCa Rioja's legal ageing categories: Crianza, Reserva, and Gran Reserva are not proprietary names but regulated time requirements, with Gran Reserva demanding at least five years of total ageing including two in oak.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
Grapes arriving at the cellar are hand-selected and pressed using vertical presses, which extract juice with less mechanical pressure and less phenolic bitterness than horizontal alternatives. The 5,000 oak barrels divide between French and American oak; French oak tends to add finer-grained tannin and subtle spice, while American oak contributes the vanilla and coconut notes that characterise classic Rioja Reservas. Ageing time varies by tier: the Crianza spends the legally minimum period in oak and bottle; the Reserva and Gran Reserva extend both; the Antología Edición Limitada draws on the top Quel parcels with grape selection, rather than a single named vineyard, driving the wine's character.
The Bodega Queirón label operates under sustainable viticulture, with hand-harvested grapes, and runs as a separate label within the broader family operation rather than a different quality tier of the same wines.
Wines to know
The range in view
The range moves through DOCa Rioja's legal ageing categories with Tempranillo as the spine at every level. The Crianza is primarily Tempranillo, aged in both French and American oak, and delivers ripe red fruit, soft tannin, and clean barrel character. The Reserva, the mid-tier, carries more weight and grip, the warmth of Rioja Oriental giving the fruit a full flavour that the higher-elevation parcels keep from turning heavy. The Gran Reserva extends the ageing further and draws on the top vineyard parcels; the longer time in barrel and bottle adds dried-fruit complexity and smooths the tannin into a rounder texture.
The Antología Edición Limitada is the estate's flagship. The 2014 vintage blended 75 percent Tempranillo with 15 percent Graciano and 10 percent Garnacha from elevated plots around Quel. Graciano is a Rioja variety with high natural acidity and violet-scented fruit; at 15 percent of the blend it extends the finish and adds lift to what the warm climate would otherwise make a heavy wine. Garnacha at 10 percent softens the mid-palate.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Start with the Ontañón Reserva. It is primarily Tempranillo, aged in French and American oak to the full Reserva requirement: three years total, at least one in barrel. The Rioja Oriental warmth gives the wine a full, rounded body and ripe dark fruit; the oak adds vanilla and spice rather than timber; the tannins are present but polished. It is a wine that drinks well on release without demanding patience, gives a clear read on the house's flavour profile, and costs less than the Gran Reserva or Antología. Anyone who wants to understand what elevated Rioja Oriental Tempranillo tastes like, and what 5,000 barrels of careful oak management can do to it, starts here.